Northern Green Spain Tour

Footsteps of the Camino de Santiago

Jun. 08 — Jun. 21, 2019 2 spots left

Jun. 06 — Jun. 19, 2020

From:
€ 5395

This motorycle tour in Northern Spain starts in Santiago de Compostela, a Galician city famous for the “Camino de Santiago” (St. James Way) pilgrimage. Galicia is famous for its verdant rolling mountains and seafood rich coast. You will ride through the provinces of Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque Country and experience the perfect blend of Northern Spain’s rugged coastline and the majestic “Pico de Europa” Mountains. During this motorbike tour, you will spend two nights in elegant San Sebastian will give you time to enjoy some pintxos and Txakoli (Basque tapas and white wine) and relax at the “Playa de la Concha” (Shell Beach).

Time for more mountain riding as you head to Oviedo and then back to the Atlantic Ocean and Las Rias Baixas. The last riding day will be spectacular as you wind up the coast along cliffs and breaking surf back to Santiago. Mark this one in your bucket list as one of the greatest motorcycle adventures you will ever have!

IMTBike ROUTE rating

It is essential to know the different skill levels needed to participate in the IMTBIKE TOURS that are offered to you. IMTBIKE makes sure that it offers different tours for all riding styles and levels. The IMTBIKE team always works diligently in designing our routes. This is a laborious process which entails reviewing all road choices before selecting the best option for an IMTBIKE tour.

The most experienced motorcyclists looks for roads that require technical skill; narrow twisty roads with little traffic and endless curves. But these same roads would be too difficult for a less experienced rider.

The local driving habits, the amount of traffic, the asphalt quality and the radius of the curves vary considerably from country to country and even in different regions of the same country. They will also vary depending on the season of the year. All of these factors have been studied by IMTBIKE and have been taken into consideration when rating our tours.

IMTBIKE thinks it is also important to know about the different types of roads you will be enjoying on your tour. To understand the road types easier, IMTBIKE has divided them into two categories, and we have calculated an approximate percentage of each on all of our tours.

TOURING ROADS: These are wider roads comprised mainly of larger radius sweepers. They are still curvy roads but not tight mountainous twisty curves. Please remember that you will ride very few straight roads on IMTBIKE tours!

CHALLENGING ROADS: These are roads that are tight twisty turns which require more technical skill. Many times they will be narrower roads without a shoulder and sometimes with steep inclines or descents. Normally they will be mountainous roads accompanied by spectacular sceneries.

If you have never ridden a motorcycle outside of your country, or if you have little experience riding on mountain roads with many curves, we recommend that you choose a tour rated moderate or intermediate. If you have any questions or doubts please do not hesitate to call or email us. We are always happy to answer your questions to make sure that you choose the best tour for your riding level.

Moderate

This route offers wider sweeping turns that are easy to maneuver. This route may have some tighter turns in a few places but this will be the exception. Regardless, even on moderate tours you must be able to ride a large cylinder motorcycle in any condition. Never plan to learn how to ride a motorcycle on an IMTBIKE tour. We recommend having a minimum of 8.000 km (5.000 miles) of experience riding a large cylinder motorcycle to participate on a MODERATE rated IMTBIKE Tour and you should ride a motorcycle on a regular basis at home.

Intermediate

This route rating can have sections of very twisty curves on narrow roads with no center line to divide the road. There will also wider radius curves on these routes. Traffic conditions can be intense at times in some urban environments and the local driving habits may seem aggressive and unpredictable to you. It is imperative that you are an experienced motorcyclist. We recommend that you have a minimum of 12.000 km (7500 miles) of large cylinder motorcycle experience to participate on a INTERMEDIATE rated IMTBIKE Tour and you should ride a motorcycle on a regular basis at home.

Advanced

This route rating has long sections of technical narrow twisty roads and sometimes single lane roads. These twisty roads will often be in mountains where steep inclines and descents will be commonplace. Some riding days can be long and challenging. Traffic conditions can be intense at times in some urban environments and the local driving habits may seem aggressive and unpredictable to you. It is imperative that you are a very experienced motorcyclist on a large cylinder motorcycle. We recommend that you have a minimum of 16.000 km (10.000 miles) of large cylinder motorcycle experience on an ADVANCE rated IMTBIKE Tour and of course you should ride a motorcycle on a regular basis at home.

IMTBIKE Average Daily Riding Hours

5 to 7 hours
6 to 8 hours
7 to 9 hours

How many hours a day you ride on a tour is important information in helping you decide on the right IMTBIKE tour for you. Some tour members want to ride as many hours as possible everyday, while others prefer to stop more frequently and dedicate more time to enjoying the scenery, visiting cultural sights and arrive at the hotel earlier to relax before dinner. The daily riding hours are calculated including the coffee breaks and photo stops but they do not include the time taken for lunch.

Normally we’ll start our riding day at 9:30am and we will take about a one hour lunch break sometime between 1pm and 2pm. So if the daily riding hours for a given tour are 5-7, then you will arrive at the hotel between 3:30pm- 5:30pm depending on the average speed of the group.

Tour Facts

Start / EndSantiago de Compostela

Total Distance1785 miles / 2860 kms.

Total Time14 Days

Riding Days12 Days

Rest Days2, San Sebastian and Oviedo

Breakfast13 Included Breakfasts

Dinners11 Dinners

Daily Mileage160-220 miles / 250-350 kms.

Hotel Overnights13 Nights

Riding SeasonEarly summer

Highlights: Santiago de Compostela, Cantabrian Coast, Picos de Europa Mountains, San Sebastian, Oviedo. We stay in some of best Parador hotels in Spain.

Accommodations: Amazing hotels. First-class historical Paradors and a few specially selected boutique hotels with local flair. Paradors are Castles, Palaces & Fortresses converted into motorcycle-friendly hotels.
*All IMTBIKE lodgings are hand-picked for their quality of service, local charm and strategic locations.

From:€ 5395

Gallery

Testimonials

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If someone would have asked me if I ever tasted "el pulpo" before I left for the "Northern Green Spain Tour" led by Martín and IMT Bike, I would have said "what is that?" And the discovery of the local delicacy and passion for eating octopus was one of the many exciting surprises that unfolded each and every day. In Spain, I could not help but get caught up in their passion for food, wine and motos. Which was easy to do as Martín was the one who encouraged me to
just relax and be open to new experiences, like the eating of, well, octopus. And my preconceived notion of the tour as being just all about the challenging riding became instead a
technicolor experience of incredible food, empty and scenic roads of amazing variety, daily riding challenges that fired up an old biker's heart, and sharing all of this with my fellow riders and new friends who were always inspiring. This was my second tour with Martín and I have
participated in tours with other companies around the world over the years. All good, but nothing on the level of what IMT Bike offers. Everything, from the accommodations, the excellently maintained bikes, the route planning, the food and the most knowledgeable-engaging tour guide on the planet in Martín, bring an amazing experience. Here is the thing about riding in a new land and stepping outside of your comfort zone, you create wonderful memories that remain as strong many months later as the day they were experienced. But more importantly on the road of discoveries, you find that because you were open to all that you came upon, you rediscovered what it is like to be yourself and enjoy the moment. No demands on you other than to meet in the morning with your new friends and ride off towards another adventure. Gracias for providing such an amazing journey, and I can't wait for the next adventure with your company!

Roger SimmonsColorado, USANorthern Green Spain

Meet our guides

We are very proud of the reputation we’ve earned as one of the world’s leading motorcycle tour operators, and it starts with our guides.

Transfer included from the Airport to the hotel. You will have some free time to relax or do some sightseeing before the welcome briefing. After the briefing we will enjoy dinner in a traditional restaurant. The first and last days mentioned in the itinerary are the arrival and departure days for your tour. Depending on the country you are flying from, you may have to leave a day early. Please book your flights accordingly!

Day 2: Santiago - Costa Verde

Our first riding day will bring us up to Northern Galicia through green rolling hills and along the rocky coast with steep cliffs and quaint fishing villages. Our hotel for the night is right on the coast.

Day 3: Costa Verde - Picos de Europa

Today we will enter into Asturias, known as Spain’s “Natural Paradise.” We will ride on little known curve-filled roads through the Asturian Mountains and past small hamlets. We will return to the coast and then return near the Picos de Europa Mountains for the night.

Day 4: Picos de Europa - Santillana del Mar

Today we will take a famous canyon road to Fuente Dé where you can take a cable car to dizzying heights at the top of the mountain. We will return through the canyon to the coast and ride to the medieval town of Santillana del Mar. This town has not changed in 600 years!

Day 5: Santillana del Mar - San Sebastián

Today we will arrive in the Basque Country, with its friendly people, green mountains, famous coastline and mouth-watering cuisine! We will stop in Bilbao to see the Guggenheim Museum and then ride along the coast past colorful fishing villages to San Sebastian, the most elegant city in Spain!

Day 6: San Sebastián rest day

Today is a rest day and you can enjoy beautiful San Sebastian with its “shell beach” and famous pintxos(tapas), or you can go for a ride in the Basque countryside.

Day 7: San Sebastián - Vitoria

Today we will head to the Basque capital, Vitoria, a small city with a lot of charm. We will ride some of the most beautiful little-known mountain passes in the Basque Country with verdant forests and incredible aromas, and then ride through the Natural Park Urkiola before arriving in Vitoria.

Day 8: Vitoria – Cervera de Pisuerga

Today’s ride brings us westward as we cross numerous mountain passes and valleys through sparsely populated areas. We will ride through the Saja-Besaya Natural Park and enjoy countless curves in the Picos de Europa before arriving in Cervera de Pisuerga.

Day 9: Cervera de Pisuerga - Oviedo

Today we will ride along the banks of several reservoirs included the most famous, Riaño. We will enjoy incredible sweepers at the foot of the Pico de Europa Mountains and cross Asturias before arriving in the monumental city of Oviedo with its famous cathedral.

Day 10: Oviedo - Rest day

Today we will enjoy a rest day in Oviedo. You can go for a ride in the Asturian countryside or enjoy the many wonders Oviedo offers, for example its Cathedral.

Day 11: Oviedo - Ribera Sacra

Today we ride the Asturian Mountains of the National Park of Somiedo and see the National Park Ancares Leoneses. Then we will cross into Galicia and arrive finally in Monforte de Lemos.

Day 12: Ribera Sacra - Rías Baixas

Today we will see some of the most spectacular landscapes as we ride though the Sil Canyon. Then we will ride along the Miño River which forms the border between Spain and Portugal to the quaint town of Cambado, in the Rías Baixas .

Day 13: Rías Baixas - Santiago de Compostela

Our last riding day is full of excitement! After leaving the Rías Baixas, we will head to Galicia's famous "Costa da Morte" (Coast of Death) so named as many a fishing boat has met its demise in these treacherous waters. We will also stop in Finisterre, where the Romans thought the world ended before returning to Santiago de Compostela on little-traveled local roads. In Santiago we will have the chance to enjoy some excellent local seafood during our farewell dinner.

Day 14: Flight home

Today you will say your goodbyes to the guides and the other tour members (now your new friends) as you make your way to the airport to fly home. Until our next motorcycle adventure together! Hasta Luego!

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Pricing

The base price of every tour is calculated for a single rider on a BMW G310R and sharing a double room